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(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

J. NESMITH & W. SAWYER. MACHINE FOR TWISTING FRINGES 0F SHAWLS, 8m.

No. 8.424. Patented Oct. 14, 1851 mu. Hllllllllllllllllllli.

llllllllllll Ilhllll II II \MIIIIIIIIIIIIII (No Model.) 3 Sheets'Sheet2. J. NESMITH & W. SAWYEEL MAOHINE FOR TWISTI NG P RINGES OF SHAWLS, &c.o. 8,424.

Patented Oct. 14,1851.

(No Model.) v 3 Sheets J. NESMITH & W. SAWYER.

Sheet .3.

MACHINE FOR TWISTING PRINGES 0F SHAWLS, 6 c. I No. 8.424. Patented Oct.14,1851.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JNO. NESMITH, OF LOWELL, AND WESLEY SAWYER, OF DRAOUT, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR TWISTING FRINGES OF SHAWLS, 8w.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,424, dated October 14, 1851.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN NESMITH, of Lowell, in the county of Middlesexand State ofMassachusetts, and WESLEY SAWYER, of

Dracut, in the same county and State, have invented a new and usefulMachine for Twisting the F ringes of Shawls and other Fabrics, and thatthe followin is a full, clear, and exact description 0 the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a back elevation; Fig. 2, anelevation of the right hand side of the machine; Fig. 3, a crossvertical section taken at the line A a of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 a likesection taken at the line B, b, of the same figure, but looking in thereverse direction.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures. l

In this machine the shawl or other fabric, the loose threads of which atthe selvage are to be selected and broughttogether to be formed intofringe, is passed over a drum with the selvage of the fringe beforecutting, held by pins or teeth, on the edge of an endless chain or beltthat passes around two pulleys, one at top, the other at bottom. Thefringe and shawl are carried down by the motion of the endless chain orbelt and the drum, and, as they descend, the middle part of the fringeis deflected by a guard or guide and carried to the periphery of atwisting wheel partly surrounded by a shell. The motion of the wheelcarries the fringe between its periphery and the shell, but, as itapproaches the edge of the shell, the threads of the fringe areseparated by means of a reciprocating finger to form the separatestrands which are twisted by being rolled between-the wheel and shell.As the twisted single strands pass out of the rear end of the shell ontoanother twisting wheel, two or more strands are drawn together byreciprocating fingers, and, as they are thus drawn together, they enterbetween the second twisting wheel and a second shell and are twisted inthe reverse direction.

In view of this mode of operation, the nature of the first part of ourinvention consists in selecting or separating from the mass the threadswhich are to form the separate strands, by means of a reciprocating orvibratory finger, when this is combined with a twisting wheel andsurrounding shell by which the threads selected and separated aretwisted into separate strands. And the secthere being also combined withthe second I twister a reciprocating or vibratory finger or fingers, fordrawing together such of .the strands as are to be united in completingthe fringe.

In practice two machines are employed, one for each edge of the shawl,but, as the two are duplicates simply reversed, it is deemed unnecessaryto describe and repre sent more than one of them.

In the accompanying drawings (a) represents a frame adapted to thepurpose-,but which may be varied at pleasure. At the top of the framethere is a drum turning freely, over which passes the shawl Crepresented in Fig. 2 by red lines as coming from a beam Z). The selvageof the shawl is held by pins (Z on the edge of an endless belt or chain6 that runs in the groove of a loose pulley f, the aXis of which isslightly inclined to the axis of the drum over which the shawl passes,for the purpose of giving a slight stretch to the fringe; and this chainis moved by passing around another pulley 9 below; on the end of a shaftit that receives a slow rotary motion from the driving shaft .2 by meansof three trains of pinions and cog-wheels (1, 2, 3, at and 5) (6 and 7,)8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14,)pinions 1, 2, 3, and 6, are shown in dottedlines in Fig. 4. As the shawl and fringe descend, the middle of thefringe comes in contact with a curved guard or guide j by which it isbent forward, and, as it reaches the lower end of this guide, thethreads to form each separate strand are separated from the mass by thepoint of a finger 70 on the ends of a rod Z the upper end of whichslides freely in a guide m, the other end being jointed to a crank-pin non the end of the shaft 0 of the pinion 2 of the first train of wheels.By this arrangement a motion is given to the point of the finger, bywhich, as it rises it moves toward the fringe to enter between thethreads to make the selection and then descends to separate them fromthe mass, and hence the downward motion of the finger must be a littlefaster than the motion of the fringe. The range and velocity of themotion of the finger relatively to the motion of the shawl and thequality of the fabric will determine the number of threads to beselected at each op- The rubbing surfaces of the wheel and shell may beof leather or india-rubber, or, one of them may have a steel or othermetal, file-cut rubbing surface.

In practice we have used, and found to answer well, india-rubber for thewheel, and a steel, file-cut lining for the shell.

The space between the two should be sufficient to permit the motion ofthe wheel to roll the threads and give the required twist to formthe-strands. Toward the rear end the space between the shell and thewheel is slightly enlarged, and, as the strands are brought to that partof the shell, the number of strands required to form a fringe areselected and drawn together on to the periphery of another wheel 8 ontheshaft t of wheel 10. This second twisting wheel 5 is ofa greaterdiameter than the first, and also surrounded in part by a second shellu, with the rubbing surfaces also of leather, india-rubber or file-cutmetal, and the space between this wheel and shell should be a littlegreater than the first in the proportion of the difference between thethickness of the strands and the completed fringe. The strands areselected and drawn together on to the periphery of the second twistingwheel by two fingers 1;, one on each side of the wheel (only one seen inthe drawings) which fingers are attached to the end of a carrier w, oneend of which slides in a guide 01 and the other operated by a crank 1 onthe shaft 2 of wheel 2 by which the fingers receive a motion like thatimparted to the first finger for forming the strands, but slower. As thefingers 2: select and draw the strands into the wheel 8 they are drawnin under the shell u and there twisted in the reverse direction, to formthe fringe. The strands, as they are being twisted by the first twistingwheel are shown at a and the fingers b. As the fingers leave the shell24 they are guided to clear the wheel 8 by means of guide pieces 0 a.

It will be seen by inspection of the drawings that all the motionsrequired are communicated by the trains of wheels above pointed out. Asthe shawl leaves the last twisting-wheel it passes over a roller a? andis wound on to a beam 6 receiving motion from wheel 7 by a train ofwheels or inany other desired manner.

It will be readily understood that this invention is equally applicableto the twisting of fringe on any other kind of fabric as well as onshawls; and it will be equally clear that by applying another 'machinesimilar to the one described but reversed for the other edge of theshawl or other fabric, that the fringes on thetwo edges can be formedand twisted at the same time.

We do not wish to limit ourselves to the special construction andarrangement of parts herein specified, as these may be variouslymodified within the range of our invention by the mere substitution ofmechanical equivalents. But

What we claim as our invention and desir'e to secure by Letters Patentis The method of selecting from the mass, the threads which are to betwisted into separate strands, by means of reciprocating or vibratoryfinger, or the equivalent thereof substantially as described, incombination with the first shell and wheel or their equivalentssubstantially as described, for giving the twist to the strands asdescribed. We also claim in combination with the first twister, theemployment of the finger or fingers, or the equivalent thereof forselecting and drawing together the strands which are to be twistedtogether to form the fringe as described, and, in combination therewithwe also claim the second twisting Wheel and shell or their equivalentsubstantially as described.

JOHN NESMITH. WESLEY SAWYER.

Witnesses:

H. D. PHELPS,

STEPHEN F. AsLIN.

